A loud voice

At church, a while ago (I no longer attend), a gentleman from the Punjab region of India came into the congregation one day. He arrived a bit late so we didn't know anything much other than that he was clearly of the Indian race and very heavy indeed, because he was very fat around his waist so it would be hard to sit down properly.
He had some other interesting things about him, as we found out later.

When we had our tea and biscuits he turned out to be a very talkative man. No one couldn't get a word in edgewise and once, when I wanted to interject in what seemed to be a lull, he turned to me and held up a strict and wagging finger to say he hadn't at all finished and would not be interrupted.
I thought it was rude, but afterwards he more than made up for it by giving me a tee-shirt saying I "heart" Jesus on the front. I did wear it out once or twice, but I am not much of a tee-shirt wearer so it's mainly pyjamas and no one can read the message, as I sleep alone.

He was a Sikh. It's unusual for his brethren to convert, but later I met some more Christians among them so perhaps it's not as rare as converted Muslims. Muslims have very strict societal codes, but Sikhs are more Western in their outlook and customs Many of them are fond of Britain's alehouses, like me, but I think their religion might prohibit alcohol. I'm sure it is a problem within their community, as it can be among my own brothers and sisters.
John Paul, he said, was his name, and we found it surprising at first but then he explained that he had changed it when he got converted.

I am never very happy about name changes like that, and my aversion started mainly with a young man I met in Italy who's accent was clearly from Newcastle or Manchester or some northern region of Britain - I forget precisely which one. He told me his name was Yash and I didn't buy it. He had been given it in an Ashram, since he was a follower of a certain Indian cult like several other people I met in Italy, all of whom had different names and some of whom insisted on using them. To me, it's irritating and disrespectful of one's parents,  family, community, and former friends.
There is only one who may change a name, and His name is YHWH, who called Abram "Abraham", Sarai "Sarah" and Isaac "Israel". He also changed Saul's name to "Paul" in the New Testament, to signal a change of heart that He had ordained. 

It was on the fellow's next visit that we discovered his loud voice. During the "quiet time", being a period when any of the men in the congregation can speak, on the condition that the speech is Biblical and proper, John Paul began to recite a prayer.

He started in a normal voice - deceptively soft at times - and then began to get louder and louder. 

His delivery was magnificent. He had very good recall of long passages of Scripture and he was skilled at knitting them together to create a complex and moving message that was really excellent, all things considered.

But he increased the volume stage by stage and kept on and on, with no lull or let-up. My ears were already crackling as they do sometimes, and I discreetly covered my most exposed ear with my fingers. And it got even louder until he was bellowing at the top of his voice. Someone said that he had noticed the windows were rattling and I think he was speaking sincerely. Someone else claimed the roof had slightly lifted at one point and we should probably check the tiles.

No one dared say anything. I did catch Sheila's eye at one point and I think her eyebrows were a bit higher than normal, as were mine.

Eventually, after the first few sessions, the preacher had a word with him and he quietened down a bit, but he still displayed a tendency to succumb... it seemed to get the better of him.

I used to wonder why he did it. He came with his wife and she seemed very nice. I think she was a Christian too but I don't know whether she was one on her own initiative or rather to agree with her husband. That would be perfectly fine I suppose, but not if the husband were a tyrant, because the things we are forced to learn are always wrong, wrongly understood, and wrongly conveyed, and will achieve the effect of resentment rather than knowledge. Whether he was a domestic tyrant or not I have no idea, but his voice could probably be classified as a weapon within certain acoustic parameters so he would have to be sure to use it with great discretion.

After a while I realised John Paul coveted the pulpit. He was auditioning. When another church in the area started to offer better prospects of getting to the front, he was off.

He might say that the name John Paul was a good opening, so he could start evangelizing without delay. 

That would be true  perhaps among his own people. The other Sikh Christians I met were mainly evangelizing their brethren. However, now  that I understand our Christian identity, I know the heathen nations are not appointed to evangelize Israel. Only Israel has been ordained and chosen by God to evangelize the other nations. Of course that doesn't mean we are not in need of evangelists: Israel languishes in a very sorry state indeed at the time of writing; but that state will not be improved by disregarding the clear instructions imparted by YHWH concerning our nation.